MSFY-000 Setting up the game

Welcome to my Actual Play!

OMG hi, kia ora and mabuhay, fellow nerd!

This is an Actual Play, which means it is a log of me roleplaying a tabletop game. I'm sharing my Actual Plays because I thought it would be fun for people to join me on my fictional adventures.

Maybe these logs will entertain you, give you ideas or make you want to send me irate emails—maybe I messed up a rule? ignored something obvious?!—whatever it might be, I hope you get something out of me sharing with the ~internet~.

Making Space for You — cosy, solo roleplay

Plot synopsis

Tender-hearted Amaya is burnt out and tired. Always putting people first, her fear of losing people has pushed her to the limit. It's time to face the past to stop it from repeating. Maybe it's time to accept that invitation to stay with her estranged Aunt.

{Love Interest} is down on {LI pronoun} luck and homeless after a freak landslide by the old mine wrecked {LI pronoun} home. Everyone is struggling in Aurora. But luckily {Aunt} has opened up her home. In Aurora, they always pay it forward. That's exactly what {Love Interest} is going to do.

Some ideas:

enemies to lovers
forced proximity
small town romance
MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE?

💖 Small town romance because I wanted to keep playing Iron Valley!!!🪻

Making Space for You is an adventure set in the Iron Valley TTRPG system.

This actual play series will be written in shorthand by primarily detailing the gameplay through a series of bullet points. Actions and dialogue are 1st-level bullet points. Meanwhile, roleplay game elements like dice rolls, Oracle pulls, and my comments are 2nd-level bullet points under the action/dialogue they pertain to.
I'm experimenting with both third-person prose and bulleted shorthand to see if I have a preference! ✨🤔

Interaction Modes

This Actual Play episode page is designed to be read or listened to.

I use bullet levels and emojis to help convey semantic meaning, and I've tried to make this screen reader or text-to-speech compatible.

Sooo... pick your poison! I know I have different preferences, based on mood hehe.

I am committed to accessibility, and I recognise this is an ongoing journey to achieve universal design. 🤔 If I miss the mark, I humbly ask for you to message me with compassion to say how I can do better. 💗

📌 Table of contents

[[#Textual Actual Play]]
[[#Reflection]]

Textual Actual Play

Episode 0

System/s and/or resources:

Entry worked on:

2025-09-25

2025-09-26

Emojis as visual keys (or cues!)

🎲 Dice: for game decisions influenced by dice
🔮 Oracle: for game decisions influenced by cards, Oracles, etc.
💭 Commentary: for any random meta thoughts I might have during roleplay
📦 Inventory: for any changes to main character inventory
🎥 {Move}: for any {Move}s that affect gameplay (Movie camera = action)
- Examples of Moves: Time Passes, Combat (presumably??)

🔗 [North:: Why have a legend for roleplay logs] 🤔

Events

Checked I am allowed to play
- 💭 Commentary: Per Iron Valley rules, you need to make sure you're not a bigot. Can confirm I'm not, so I am allowed to play ✨ (Phew!)

Checked I have what I need
- 💭 Commentary: Rulebook + player sheet + virtual dice + virtual oracles = ✔️

I needed to decide on some World Truths!

World Truths: This Iron Valley has fantasy species living in the game world. It also has some magic. Also favour economy is preferred, but I may roleplay using precious metals for currency as well!
- 💭 Commentary: I have bended the Iron Valley setting rules to suit my narrative. Is this a bad move as a newbie? Time will tell.
- 💭 Commentary: Set in the same game universe as Tea Time with Your Orc Lover
- 💭 Commentary: More worldbuilding here: TTYOL Worldbuilding

World Truth: Picked name of Iron Valley: Aurora (just Aurora)
- 🎲 Dice: Question: What should I call it?
- - Roll type: [d4 = 3 + d12 = 4] => Refresh options 3x then pick from 4th entry on Random address in Philippines
- - Result: I didn't like the 4th entry so...
- - Interpretation: Town = Aurora! Decided to pick one from entry 3 instead lol

World Truth: Aurora is a small town in disrepair
- 💭 Commentary: I just picked one of the 3 options in the Iron Valley guidebook 💗

I decided on some Character Truths for my character

Character Truth: Amaya is feminine and uses she/her pronouns
- 💭 Commentary: I decided this—no rolls!

Character Truth: Character name is Amaya
- 🔮 Oracle: Question: What is my character's name?
- - Oracle type: Rolled from Filipino name generator
- - Result: There were a lot! So I picked one I liked
- - Interpretation: Picked Amaya. No last name as per Iron Valley convention

Character Truth: I am leaving the big city because... Estranged aunt has invited you to stay with her. It's been years since your whole family lived in Aurora together... before mum and aunt had that big fight...
- 💭 Commentary: Why did you leave the big city? IDK. I just felt like this would make an interesting backdrop?

Character Truth: Where are you staying in town? In Aunt's house
- 💭 Commentary: Spoiler: Amaya doesn't know that there's someone else there too?! 😂 I am trying to use the 'forced proximity' romance trope HAHA.

Character Truth: When are you arriving in Aurora? Summer 5
- 🔮 Oracle: Question: When are you arriving?
- - Oracle type: Iron Valley date oracle
- - Result: [| 30 | Summer | 5 |]
- - Interpretation: Summer 5 :)

Character Truth: How long do you plan to stay? 1-year, maybe?
- 💭 Commentary: She's not sure if she'll want to return home to the big city

Character Truth: Backpack item #1 is Sturdy work boots
- 🔮 Oracle: Question: What's in your backpack?
- - Oracle type: Iron Valley random item oracle
- - Result: Eek — I lost the numbers, but I noted which items to pick from below
- - Interpretation: Sturdy work boots — Mum heard that Aurora has 'gone to the dogs' so insisted on the boots

Character Truth: Backpack item #2 is First Aid Kit
- 🔮 Oracle: Question: What's in your backpack?
- - Oracle type: Iron Valley random item oracle
- - Result: Eek — I lost the numbers, but I noted which items to pick from below
- - Interpretation: First aid kit — If it's that bad, then a first aid kit makes sense too... just in case

Character Truth: Backpack item #3 is Tin of Mints
- 🔮 Oracle: Question: What's in your backpack?
- - Oracle type: Iron Valley random item oracle
- - Result: Eek — I lost the numbers, but I noted which items to pick from below
- - Interpretation: Tin of mints — Amaya would rather die than have bad breath

Character Truth: Birthday is Summer 12
- 🔮 Oracle: Question: When is your birthday?
- - Oracle type: Iron Valley date oracle
- - Result: [| 37 | Summer | 12 |]
- - Interpretation: Summer 12
- 💭 Commentary: OMG that's exciting, in-game birthday is coming up soon

Character Truth: Amaya's stats are [Heart: 2, Iron: 2, Shadow: 1, Wits: 3, Edge: 1]
- 💭 Commentary: I decided on what stats to have for Amaya based on the stat values allowed: [3, 2, 2, 1, 1]. Here's what I picked and why:
  - Heart: 2 — That fight between Mum and her Aunt really shook her up. She's scared of ruining relationships and treads carefully; she wants people to be happy.
  - Iron: 2 — Dad treated Amaya like a son, in that as his eldest child she was the strong pair of hands he could count on.
  - Shadow: 1 — Amaya is pretty straight-laced and very much unmagical
  - Wits: 3 — Thinking things through has never let her down. Except, when she overthinks and doesn't act and that leads to problems, but Amaya doesn't think about that. Much. Well, tries not to.
  - Edge: 1 — Could Amaya outrun someone? Hmm, maybe not.

Character Truth: Amaya's skills are First Aid, Inquire, and Creature handling
- 💭 Commentary: What skills might help Amaya in Aurora? I am going to pick from the skills and not randomise this!!! Here are my picks:
  - First Aid — Amaya never wanted people to know if she got hurt, so she got really good at patching herself up.
  - Inquire — As an overthinker and people pleaser, Amaya has learned the art of asking in a way that people want to answer. This is the upgraded skill.
  - Creature handling — While Dad specialised in caring for holy pigeons, there was no shortage of animals needing help in the city. She knows exactly how to lift safely and strongly. The best part? Animals love unconditionally.
- 💭 Commentary: Amaya is going to need to get satisfaction fast because she will need to repair the house ahahaha, ahhh this entertains me

Needed to decide on 3 starting promises!

Starting Promise - town setting: Find out what caused Aurora to get so rundown (6)
- 💭 Commentary: Since I decided that Aurora is a rundown place, I think this makes sense.

Starting Promise - where you're staying: Fix up Aunt's old house (5)
- 💭 Commentary: I borrowed this one from the guidebook! I thought it made sense given the condition of Aurora that her aunt's house lso needs fixing up.

Starting Promise - reason you're moving to Aurora: MSFY-Promise Tracker-Amaya#Figure out why Mum and Aunt fought and make peace with their history (8)
- 💭 Commentary: Uhhh... Amaya knew about the invitation 3 years ago. So I need to think about why she's moving now
- 🔮 Oracle: Question: Why is she moving now??
- - Oracle type: Tarot card pull
- - Result: [ ]
- - Interpretation: OMG THIS IS SO FITTING!!!! Loneliness, problem that's hanging over your head ➡️ Get to the bottom of Mum and Aunt's big fight
- 💭 Commentary: Reversed hermit meaning: "When it comes to work, the hermit reversal meaning refers to your preparedness to get to the bottom of something that has been troubling you for quite some time now. There is searching to be done, and it will be your responsibility to ask the question that will allow the other people to understand the circumstances."
- 💭 Commentary: Narrative explanation:
  - Amaya is burnout. Too many expectations and too many things to do. But she's scared of something happening — like with Mum and Aunt — and of that happening to her. But she's so tired. And maybe if she figures out just what happened years ago when her Mum vowed her Aunt was dead to them — well, maybe, she could stop it happening to her... and maybe reunite her family. Her sisters refused to come; her Mum got so mad, but Dad said he's proud of her. That's something.
  - Originally, Aunt was dead, and she inherited the house. But I'm kind of sick of the dead relative trope lol. And I wanted the hopefulness of a possible reconciliation and how emotionally fraught that can be—like you want it so much, but you're scared it will cost you. But maybe it's worth the risk.
That's it, folks!

Backpack Oracle roll

Edible	Wearable	Sentimental and Practical	Magical, Silly, and Fun	Random!	More Random!
Tin of mints	Warm hat	Soup tureen that looks like a chicken	Waffle maker that makes heart-shaped waffles	A pacifier	Old Newspaper of the day when it happened
Fancy Jam/Jelly	Woolen socks	Handmade Plush Animal (Low Quality, but still cute)	Pot of invisible ink	A binder full of trading cards	First Aid Kit
Fancy chef salts	Sturdy work boots	Instant Camera with film	Rose that never wilts	A creepy doll	Homemade scarf

Reflection

Okay, this is surprisingly emotional? Not sure how this happened, but I'm vibing with it, although the themes are hitting kinda close to home 🫠😂

- Me: I just want a cosy, small town romance
- Also Me: But make everyone traumatised

I WILL KEEP THIS COSY. LIKE, OKAY, FEELINGS, BUT GOOD VIBES. LESHGOOOOO.

Want more Making Space for You?

Go to Making Space for You for links to all available Actual Play logs and relevant lore.